Writing With My Mouth Full

Arugula-Stuffed Flatbread

While walking in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, Anna and I stopped by a store that was lacking in spirit but selling every spice imaginable from Africa, Central Asia and the Mediterranean. My pantry is stocked up with spices I smuggled from our Tunisian trip, so I was in no hurry to buy curries or harissas. Everything was less expensive than Penzeys however, so I kept it in mind for the next time I would need something exotic for my kitchen. It was only on our way out when I noticed the lavash for sale–at less than $1.50 for about three sheets.

Lavash, or flatbread, is a soft, thin bread reportedly of Armenian origin. I was intrigued by flatbreads because they showed up on every Chicago menu I perused. Having lunch by myself one day at Sepia, I ordered the flatbread of the day which was topped with sous-vide onions. If you don’t make it by hand, flatbreads are so easy to bake with almost anything you have in the fridge. Thinner than pizza and thus cook faster, flatbreads are great for quick lunches and make an awesome addition to brunch.

For this version, I finished the two cheeses I had in the fridge by combining them after grating. I had a lot of fresh vegetables available, but was partial to the spicy arugula for the bite. One time, I made this recipe and topped it with slices of kielbasa and Mangalitsa bacon; another, just with shiitake mushrooms and spinach. Feel free to play around with Taleggio cheese and caramelized onions, too. The fun part is coming up with your own combination.

Ingredients:
flatbread
arugula
kielbasa, sliced (optional)
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
1/2 cup Manchego, grated
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
red pepper flakes
oil, salt

1. Preheat oven at 350º. In the meantime, lay the flatbread flat on a lined baking sheet. Brush with some olive oil. Spread the arugula on one half of the flatbread. Sprinkle with red pepper and a dash of salt. Top that half with the cheeses. Fold over flatbread.
2. Brush the other side with olive oil. Top with kielbasa, or the toppings of your choice, and then with red onions. If you have leftover arugula, finish off with them.
3. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until you see the edges coloring a bit. Remove from oven and let stand. Transfer to a chopping block and slice to serve.

Gamjatang, Korean Rib Soup

After a harrowing ten-hour trip from Chicago, the Dr. was craving kalbi-tang, or Korean short beef rib soup, the next day. We had stopped by Joong Boo Market on Belmont Avenue before we continued to the airport and among our purchase was a package of fresh perilla leaves. I thought of gamja-tang, pork rib soup, because it’s what I always order when I’m in Hanbat in Koreatown. I ended up buying short beef ribs and beef neck bones and then using a pork-rib recipe. I think combining the two soups in this one recipe was a pretty good compromise even though Maangchi may slap my hand if she ever reads this.

If we knew we were to spend all afternoon and all night trying to fly back to New York City–our flight was cancelled without any notification and all 180 passengers were vying for the next three flights to La Guardia–we would have bought the soups from the market’s deli and enjoyed them at the airport.

Finally home and caught up on sleep the next night, I searched for online recipes for both soups. All of them require boiling the bones and then rinsing them before boiling again. This step removes all the impurities and the fat from the boiled bones, but it’s sacrilege if you’re Filipino because it’s the fat that makes my people’s soups whole. Sometimes though, I do what I’m told even if the order comes from an older Korean lady. To keep my stubborn streak however, I skipped an extra rinsing step so at least some of the fat is preserved in the broth.

Needless to say, I scared the crap out of the Dr. who was impressed with how the soup turned out: he had two full large bowls for dinner while the negative aspect of our Chicago trip dissolved in pieces.

Ingredients:
5 short beef ribs, rinsed
4 beef neck bones, rinsed
5 perilla leaves, chopped in 1-inch pieces
1 napa cabbage, sliced into 4 pieces
2 potatoes, peeled, sliced
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
4 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms
1 large knob of ginger, peeled, chopped
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 tbsps soy bean paste

Sauce:
5 perilla leaves, chiffonade
6 cloves of garlic, minced
a dash of hot pepper flakes
2 tbsps hot pepper paste
4 tbsps cooking wine
3 tbsps fish sauce

1. In a large Dutch oven, boil some water. Add the beef ribs and neck bones. Lower the heat and let impurities rise to the top. Using a strainer, remove the impurities and discard. Simmer beef for a total of an hour before rinsing them out with cold water.
2. In the same washed Dutch oven, return the beef with some more water. Add ginger, onion, soy bean paste and mushrooms. Simmer for another hour.
3. In the meantime, in a separate pot, boil some water and blanch the cabbage for a minute. Remove from the pot, squeeze out the water and set aside.
4. Make the sauce as well while you’re boiling the beef. Combine all sauce ingredients and mix thoroughly. Set aside until needed.
5. When the beef is done, remove the mushrooms and let cool. Slice them and return to the pot with the rest of the vegetables. Cook for another 30 minutes in low-medium fire to make sure most of the meat is falling off the bones and the potatoes are cooked.

Lamb Loin with Couscous

My first real night of cooking in my apartment called for one of my favorite meats: lamb. “Real” as in I’m-home-alone-for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time and I-don’t-mind-any-minute-of-it kind of real. I stopped by the halal meat market in my neighborhood where I patiently waited for the lady to slice off the loin from the whole lamb into manageable chunks. I keep coming back to this store because the lamb is crazy cheap; I just have to deal with their Island Time and re-explain how I like the ribs with the long handle bones intact and accept the fact that when I ask for ground lamb, the response will always be: I don’t have time to ground meat right now, even though I’m the only one in the store. (I have since bought my own food grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.)

Look at that lamb though! They would easily cost more than $25 at Whole Foods but that lot cost me $12 here in Harlem. I don’t know enough about halal meat and still don’t know why it smells differently than, say, gourmet lamb meat from New Zealand, but they make a good meal every time.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds lamb loin, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-ounce box couscous
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
half a bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
a handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
a handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 tsps paprika
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt, oil

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, and 2 tbsps of olive oil. Add the lamb, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add some of the lamb to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining lamb. Return the lamb to the pot along with the onion and carrots. Add the garlic, ginger, and zest and stir.
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, parsley, and olives.

The New York Times’ Bouillabaisse

I knew bouillabaisse had to be the first meal I make for the Dr. in my new apartment as soon as I saw Amanda Hesserâ€™s recap in the New York Times Magazine. But because he’s been cooking the first few days of my unpacking, I wanted to make it up to him and make an impressive version.

After work one day, I took the train from Connecticut all the way down to Grand Central Terminal where I stopped by Pescatore and splurged on fresh seafood. When I say splurged, I really mean splurged: a quarter pound of wild shrimp cost $12, two cod fillets were $13, a chunk of halibut was $16 and two more chunks of grouper were $14. I also walked by Penzeys and spent another $16 on a few strands of saffron. I have an educated guess that they were really stringed by some ladies in Spain where as the $3 jar I buy in Harlem isn’t really saffron, but safflower. A stop at Zaro’s got me my least expensive purchase of the early evening yet: $3 load of country bread.

Back at home, I was pretty impressed at what I unpacked. The cuts of fish were absolutely beautiful. I don’t spend as much money when I cook fish at home; I usually just buy a live swimming fish from Chinatown or a whole red snapper or branzino from Fairway or Whole Foods and I just broil them without any fuss. You may think it’s a waste to cook such good fish, but I actually tried this same recipe using frozen fish from Trader Joe’s and I must tell you that it really wasn’t the same. The frozen version was bland and the fish didn’t feel supple in my mouth. In fact, I had to season more to give the Trader Joe’s bouillabaisse some kind of taste. While the seafood broth carried the frozen version, I needed only a splash to bring out the natural flavors of the fresh seafood for the Pescatore version.

Now that I’ve had Pescatore seafood, I think Iâ€™ll be making more seafood dishes more often, even if it means an ache in my wallet once in a while.

Ingredients:
1 chunk of halibut fillet
2 fillets of cod
1 chunk of grouper fillet
1/4-pound of shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 cup of seafood broth
1/2 cup of white wine
1 small onion, thinly sliced
half a bag of baby carrots
2 pinches saffron
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil, salt, pepper
slices of country bread, toasted

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, carrot, saffron, bay leaf and half of the parsley. Sauté for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic to brown.
2. Add the fish, shrimp and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and toss for 10 minutes. Add the broth and wine, bring to a rapid simmer and cook until the fish is just cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning, adding more saffron, lemon juice, salt and pepper as desired. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Set a slice of toast in the bottom of a bowl and ladle in soup.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Beet Greens

I didn’t know that the apartment I bought came with a Korean cook. I can’t even begin to explain how it feels like to come home–your own home–from work with dinner ready at the table.

Uh-oh, I’m nesting!

I came home one night and the Dr. was already working in the kitchen. The beets were already roasted and out of the oven and the pasta was in the pot. When I saw him clean off the grit from the beet greens, I knew the roasted beets were for later. Iâ€™ve seen him do this before and it’s from him I learned not to waste food parts that most people throw away. I was excited for the next day’s lunch of beets, but I was even more hungry for the pasta with beet greens for dinner.

Iâ€™m not complaining. Best apartment ever!

Ingredients:
beet greens with stems from 2 bunches of beets, thoroughly washed, chopped in half
1 box of whole wheat spaghetti
a handful of golden raisins
1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsps balsamic vinegar
goat cheese
salt, oil

1. In a pot, boil some water and cook the pasta until al dente. You’re going to need some of that pasta water in steps 3 and 4. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and toast, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
3. Add garlic to remaining oil and cook until golden. Add onions until soft. Add balsamic vinegar and stir until most of it has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add beet stems, some pasta water, and a dash of salt. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until stems are tender.
4. Add raisins, then beet greens, while stirring with tongs until leaves are wilted. Do in small handfuls if you have a small skillet. Add a splash of pasta water and cover to cook the greens, about 2 minutes. Add olives, then the cooked pasta, just until liquid has thickened slightly. Sprinkle with pine nuts and add a dollop of goat cheese before serving.

Related post/s:
Don’t waste your carrot tops either